Saturday knitting!

Hey guys, join us this Saturday at Klose Knit for our monthly Saturday knitting! The weather promises to be beautiful, so there's a good chance we will be able to sit outside and enjoy the warmth of Spring.

Good company, refreshing drinks, and lots of yarn! Don't miss it!

Interested in Joining? Here's how

If anyone is interested in joining the Knitting Illini, it's never too late!  Just send an email to illini.knitting@gmail.com with your full name, your UIUC NetID, and your skill level.  Skill levels are as follows:

New beginner: No previous experience- I want to learn how!

Beginner: I know the bare minimum, but want to expand my knitting skills.

Intermediate: I know more than the basics, but still could learn some more tricks or techniques

Advanced: I feel comfortable with most patterns, and could teach beginners to knit.

Expert: I am a knitting god/goddess.  

If you'd like to sign up for a beginner knitting class, let me know in the same email.  Beginner classes will start up sometime in February and will go for a few sessions.  Classes are $5.00 per session, paid when you arrive for the class.  They will take place during scheduled meetings.  You will be paired up with an advanced knitter who will help you learn the following techniques: Cast On, Knit, Purl, Decrease, and finishing techniques.  You'll be given a pattern for a winter hat, and from there you'll learn the basic techniques employed by almost every knitting pattern.  

If you already know how to read patterns, but you don't have the money/patterns that you'd like, feel free to ask me and I can bring in my pattern binder for you to look through.  I'm a bit of a nut about knitting, so there's A LOT of patterns.  

Any questions, email me at illini.knitting@gmail.com

Yarnbombing!!!

Check out this article from the UK--- yarn graffiti strikes again!  

Yarnbombing

~~Becki

New Year, New Semester, New Meetings

The New Year brings some changes into the club.  Our old haunt, Bar Guiliani, has closed down.  Therefore, we are forced to find an alternative meeting spot.  As a person who prefers to knit in comfort, rather than find a classroom, we are moving to another coffee shop.  Our new meetings will be at Cafe Paradiso, on the Corner of Lincoln and Nevada in Urbana.  It's just down the street from LAR, and the 22 Illini MTD bus makes frequent stops to LAR, so the trek is not so bad for those coming from Campustown/Champaign.  

Our meeting times have also changed.  We will now meet on Tuesday and Wednesday from 7:00pm to 8:00pm.  Our first meeting will be on the Tuesday after syllabus week, on January 27th, 2009.

Another change in this new year is our addition of a charity project.  All members are required to donate $2.00 to the cause, and any who wish to participate in the project will be supplied with the yarn.  The project we have chosen is to knit teddy bears for children afflicted with HIV/AIDs.  I'll post a link ASAP to the project details.  

Happy 2009!

Poll: T-shirt, or Hoodie?

Quizzes by Quibblo.com

Knitting Illini has Begun for the fall!

Hey guys, it's me, Becki (la prez).   Just popping in to add a blog post because it's been neglected.  Feel free to post about anything here.  Questions, links to awesome patterns, problems with projects or just about a particular project you're excited about--- anything!  It's doesn't even really have to be knitting related!  

For those of you who are just joining us, we offer 3 session knitting lessons for beginners.  Those of you who signed up for the first set of sessions got the opening discount, but from here on out sessions are $5/session, with three sessions to teach the pattern.  If you make it to all three sessions, that's $15 total--not a bad price for beginner lessons! The pattern is a simple knitted hat, like a winter stocking cap or skull cap.  You'll learn how to knit and purl, the difference between garter stitch and Stockinette stitch, how to cast on, the difference between knitting on straight needles and knitting in the round (with a circular needle), and how to decrease stitches, as well as finishing techniques.  This pattern is simple and easy to follow, and we'll be there along the way to help you through any snags.

There's information on the website about all sorts of stuff:  http://illini.knitting.googlepages.com.  Make sure, if you're typing in the address, that you DON'T include "www." at the beginning, otherwise the page will not load.  :)

Happy knitting everyone!

Tit Bits Stuff

First of all, thanks so much to you guys who are making these boobs for mastectomy patients. If you have trouble, blog about it here! Leave a comment or email me and I'll add you right away.

Anyway, while working on the first tittie, I found that using the raglan increases throughout instead of the kf&b leaves a smoother, nicer looking turnout. This is done by knitting first into the stitch below the stitch you're going to be knitting, and then knitting that original stitch. Wow, even I'm getting confused reading that.... If you don't know how to do a raglan increase, try looking it up online, or ask around in the group for help.  If you're really stuck, I can help out on Thursday this week, or you can visit either Klose Knit or Needleworks and someone there should be able to help you.  If you have any questions, don't hesitate to comment or email me.


Becki